The Blood of Dawnwalker: Withering Away Medicine and Dialogue Answers

Withering Away is the second main quest in The Blood of Dawnwalker, and it hides a permanent consequence behind two unremarkable-looking prompts. Coen’s mother, Esme, is dying of a neurological illness, and the herbs you fetch from the healer Anca only work if you prepare them exactly the way she describes. Get the water temperature or the dose wrong and Esme dies later, during the Sacred Covenant quest.

Quick answer: At the cauldron, pick [use hot water], then [add three spoonfuls of herbs]. When Esme refuses to drink, choose “I’ll tell you a story.”

The correct medicine recipe in Withering Away

Anca’s instruction is short and literal. Three scoops of the mixture, brewed in water that is hot but has not reached a boil. The game gives you three water options and three dosage options, and only one combination of each counts as correct.

Prompt	Correct choice	Wrong options
Water	use hot water	use boiling water, use cold water
Herbs	add three spoonfuls of herbs	add one spoonful, add two spoonfuls

Boiling water ruins the mixture, which is the mistake most players make because “boiling” sounds closer to what Anca said. She specifically stops short of it.

Getting the herbs from Anca

The quest starts on its own after All Good Things, at Coen’s house in Laslea Glen. Split the firewood, feed the stove, and sit through the breakfast where Esme refuses to eat. Pieter then sends you to the healer for something stronger before that night’s Blood Mass. Grab your sword from the next room and equip it before you leave.

Walk to Anca’s house and knock. Nobody answers, which switches the quest to a short search. Switch to Focus Mode, the vision mode the game introduces here, to pick out anything you can interact with.

Check the vegetable patch and the water barrel beside it. Half the patch is watered and the barrel is empty, which tells Coen that Anca went down to the river. Follow the path around the corner of the house and downhill.

You will spot Anca kneeling at the riverbank, washing clothes. You can call out to her right away or keep watching, and choosing “Keep on looking” gives you an early glimpse of the strange markings on her hands and arms. Neither option affects the medicine.

Coen in red on a forest path near the river while searching for Anca — Coen heads down the path toward the river to find Anca. Image: Rebel Wolves

Tell her about Esme and follow her back to the cabin. On the walk she talks about the mood in the village, and the quest updates once the conversation moves indoors.

Quest Updated notification for Withering Away appearing on the HUD during the walk — The Withering Away objective updates as Coen follows Anca back to her cabin. Image: Rebel Wolves

Inside, ask about the mixture and pay for it. The remedy uses rarer ingredients, so the price doubles from the usual 25 denarius to 50. Anca hands over the sachet plus a written copy of the instructions.

Money is not a barrier here. If you cannot cover 50, the “You know things are tight for us right now” line gets you the herbs for 25, and “Sorry – can’t afford it” gets them on the promise that you pay her back later. All three routes end with the same herbs in your inventory.

The storm choice and how much time it costs

Thunder starts the moment the deal is done, and Anca offers to keep Coen inside until it passes with a Latin lesson. Your reply is what actually spends time on this quest, and time is the currency for the whole 30-day story.

Coen asking "You hear that?" as the storm begins inside Anca's cabin — The storm breaks just as the trade finishes, prompting Anca’s offer to wait it out. Image: Rebel Wolves

Response	Cost	Result
Gladly – I’ve missed it too.	2 time segments	Starts the optional Page-Turner quest
I really have to go.	1 time segment	Head straight home

Neither answer changes whether Esme lives. Staying only costs you an extra segment and unlocks a side quest.

Brewing and giving Esme the medicine

Run back through the village to the family cabin. Pieter is outside arguing with Vladimir, so wait for that to finish before you speak to him and hand over the herbs.

Vladimir saying "Later... Later when?" while arguing with Pieter outside the cabin — Pieter and Vladimir finish their argument before Coen can hand over the herbs. Image: Rebel Wolves

Go inside and interact with the cauldron. Pick [use hot water] at the first prompt. This is the choice that decides Esme’s fate, so do not take the boiling option.

At the second prompt, pick [add three spoonfuls of herbs]. One or two spoonfuls will not do anything for her.

Pieter brings up sword practice while the mixture steeps. Answer “Sounds good.” Then check the pot again and select “The brew should be ready now.”

Take the infusion to Esme. She resists drinking it, so choose “I’ll tell you a story.” Coen recites a lullaby, she settles, and she takes the medicine.

Dialogue wheel with "I'll tell you a story" highlighted as Esme refuses the infusion — Choosing the story option calms Esme enough for her to drink the infusion. Image: Rebel Wolves

The full sequence, in order, is use hot water, add three spoonfuls of herbs, “Sounds good.”, “The brew should be ready now.”, and “I’ll tell you a story.”

How to confirm you did it right

Esme drinking the infusion is the immediate confirmation. The quest wraps up right after, with Pieter telling Coen to rest before Mass and then taking him into the woods for sword practice, which starts Like Father, Like Son.

The real verification comes later. During Sacred Covenant, when Coen sits beside Pieter and Esme in the chapel, the game checks the brew you made. Correct water and dose means Esme survives that scene. A wrong temperature or dosage means she does not, and there is no way to redo it at that point.

Note: The quest has to be finished before Sacred Covenant begins, so do not leave the herbs sitting in your inventory while you go off doing optional content.

What causes the failure

Only the two cauldron prompts can fail this quest. Picking boiling or cold water at the first one, or one or two spoonfuls at the second, produces a useless brew that kills Esme during the chapel scene.

Everything else is safe. Haggling the price, choosing whether to call out to Anca at the river, staying for the Latin lesson, and the smaller conversational replies with Pieter all leave the outcome untouched. A manual save before you approach the cauldron is the cheapest insurance if you want to double-check the prompts before committing.